Spiral railway.



No. 788,980. PATENTED MAY 2, 1905.

' J. B.-WILMOUTH.

SPIRAL RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. 1904.

wi lmeoow W- \ZZA/ ttOWm I/I uM Patented May 2, 1905.

PATENT Prion,

JOHN B. VVILMOUTH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPIRAL RAILWAY.

SPECIFIGA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 788,980, dated May 2, 1905.

I Application filed February 23, 1904. Serial No. 194,791.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN B. WILMOUTI'I, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented acertain new and useful Spiral Railway, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus or device to be used for sport or amusement, and which consists in the main of a spiral railwaythat is, a railway in the form of an upstanding spiral or helix around the inner side of which a car, with its passengers, may run either up or down, the rails being so related that the car occupies a recumbent position, and hence travels either up or down acurved vertical wall or framework, the car being held onto the rails by the action of centrifugal force, provision being made for giving the car the required impetus.

The accompanying drawing represents a perspective View of one form of spiral railway built in accordance with my invention.

A circular-set of vertical posts or timbers l for containing the spiral railway may be erected upon a base or platform 2 and covered by a roof 3. To the inner sides of these posts may be secured by fastenings 4 upper and lower spiral rails 5 6, forming together aspiral railway, which preferably has at least one complete turn. The diameter of the spiral formed by the upper rail is preferably about equal to the diameter of the spiral formed by the lower rail, so that a car in running around the spiral upon its inner side may occupy a position practically on its side, as at 7.

In using the railway the car preferably travels from the lower to the upper end of the spiral, and in order to impart to the car the impetus required in order to enable it to ascend the spiral with sufficient speed to make it cling to the rails I provide a downwardlyinclined approach at 8, which may be supported upon posts 9. The car at riding down this incline is held upon the rails by gravity, the rails being placed side by side, or, if the rails are so placed as to tip the car, the angle should not be so great as to incur danger of the car tipping over. At thejunction of the inclined approach with the lower end of the spiral railway the railway is given a suitable twist, as at 11, whereby the centrifugal force developed as the car enters upon the spiral may act upon the car to press it firmly against both the upper and under rails. After running up the spiral the car emerges upon an exit in the form of tracks 12, lying about side by side and either with or without aslight inclination, whereupon the car runs back toward the starting-point, as at 13. At the junction of the upper end of the spiral with the exit a suitable twist is given to the track, as at 14, to bring the car from recumbent to upright position. Preferably the exit 12 is lower than the top of the inclined approach 8.

WVithin the scope of my invention the upper end of the spiral may be provided with an inclined approach and the lower end with an exit, which may incline upwardly from the spiral, and the rails for the exit and approach may project between two of the posts forming the framework for the spiral, as shown.

While my invention is primarily intended for use of passengers and is adapted for amusement resorts, still it also extends to the class of toys, and it will be understood that a toy having my novel construction is within the scope of the claims.

Many variations may be resorted to within the scope of my invention and portions of my apparatus may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A spiral railway having an approach at its lower end and an exit at its upper end, the diameter of the spiral formed by one rail being about equal to the diameter of the spiral formed by the other rail.

2. A spiral railway having a downwardlyinclined approach at its lower end and an exit at its upper end, the diameter of the spiral formed by one rail being about equal to the diameter of the spiral formed by the other rail.

3. A spiral railway having two rails and having an inclined approach, the diameter of the spiral formed by one rail being about equal to the diameter of the spiral formed by the other rail.

4. A spiral railway comprising a pair of spiral rails one above the other and so related that a car can be retained thereon only by the action of centrifugal force.

5. A spiral railway comprising a pair of spiral rails one above the other; the diameter of the spiral formed by one rail being about equal to the diameter of the spiral formed by the other rail.

6. Aspiral railway consisting of a plurality of spiral rails so related that a car running thereon at high speed can be held upon the rails only by the action of centrifugal force, the turns of the spiral being disposed one'beneath another.

7. A spiral railway comprising a pair of rails one above another and having an approach, the rails at the junction of the spiral and the approach forming a twist in the railway, so that a car may be held upon the approach-rails by gravity and upon the spiral rails only by the action of centrifugal force.

8. A spiral railway comprising a pair of rails so related thata car may be held thereon by the action of centrifugal force, said rails being projected at both ends of the spiral in such a manner that the car may be held thereon by gravity, the turns of the spirals being one beneath another.

9. A spiral railway comprising a pair of rails and having an inclined approach, the railway being formed with a twisted portion at the junction of the spiral and the approach,

the turns of the spirals being one beneath another.

10. A railway in the-form of an upstanding spiral and consisting of a pair of rails so related that a car may be held thereon by the action of centrifugal force, and having at its lower end a downwardly-inclined approach and at its upper end an exit, the approach and the exit being formed of rails so related that the car may be held thereon by gravity.

11. A railway in the form of an upstanding spiral and having at least one complete turn and consisting of a pair of spiral rails one above the other and terminating at one end in an inclined approach in which the rails lie side by side.

12. In combination, a set of posts and a railway consisting of spiral rails secured one above the other upon said posts, and means for impelling a car toward said railway at high speed.

13. In combination, a circular set of vertical posts, a pair of spiral rails secured thereto, and an approach consisting of a pair of rails side by side merging into said spiral rails and projecting between two of said posts.

14. A vertical spiral railway whereon a car may be supported by the action of centrifugal force, the turns of the spirals being one beneath another.

JOHN B. WILMOUTH. Witnesses:

EDWARD A. McCUE, LEWIS H. SAFER. 

